Sustainability

Sustainability goals and strategy

Arla Plas is based on three sustainability areas:

- Environmental footprint
- Social sustainability
- Business ethics 

Environmental footprint

Reducing our environmental footprint is our biggest sustainability challenge. We are endeavouring to reduce our climate impact throughout the value chain and from a product life cycle perspective. The production of the plastic granules, our main input in the manufacture of extruded plastic sheets, is the single largest contributor to our carbon footprint. We are continuing to cooperate with external partners, especially raw materials suppliers on developing non-fossil or partially fossil-free materials and to work actively on recycling and take-back. Arla Plast's goal and strategy for the reduction of its environmental footprint is based on the focus areas efficient use of materials, sustainable customer offering and sustainable production.

1. Efficient use of materials

The production of the raw material, which is our input for the production of extruded plastic sheets, accounts for the vast majority of the carbon footprint of our operations. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the material is used as efficiently as possible.

Key issues in the efficient utilization of materials:
   • Increasing take-back of materials from customers
   • Increasing the reuse of regrind in production
   • Reducing regrind generation

2. Sustainable customer offering

Arla Plast's ambition is for customers to appreciate the company's offering as one of the most sustainable in the industry.

Key issues in sustainable customer offerings:
• Increasing the share of products with a lower CO2 footprint
• Increasing the use of recycled materials
• Increasing the share of investments that enable circularity
• Sustainable modes of transport

3. Sustainable production 

Arla Plast strives to continuously develop its production facilities to put it at the forefront of sustainable production. Through our extensive industry experience, we have acquired unique expertise by developing our own production processes and products so that they have less of a negative impact on the environment and climate

Key issues in sustainable production:
• Increasing the purchase and use of renewable energy
• Reducing environmentally hazardous waste
• Reducing the use of fresh water
• Health and safety

Social sustainability

Being a workplace where people thrive and have the opportunity to grow and develop isn't just a corporate goal, it's a key part of our identity and how we want to be as an organization. We firmly believe that by investing in our employees we are not only creating a positive working environment but also laying a strong foundation for our sustainable future.

Arla Plast's corporate culture

Our corporate culture is characterized by the fundamental principles of quality, speed, service and flexibility. These core values shape the way we interact with our customers and each other within the organization.

Employees

Our Personnel Policy is based on acknowdedging our employees' know-how and skills, achieving equal proportion between men and women, a high level of ethics, and open and honest communication that enables the exchange of ideas. Arla Plast is based on a set of values that promotes a work environment where everyone is of equal value. This means everyone at Arla Plast should have the same rights, obligations and opportunities.

Health and safety

Our employees should feel safe, and we promote a healthy working environment. As Arla Plast has production facilities, it is important to limit the risk of workplace accidents and occupational injuries. All production facilities have certified management systems for health and safety, and all new employees are trained in safe working practices. Our long-term aim is to have no accidents or injuries that lead to absence.

Training and skills development

An important part of being an attractive employer is offering opportunities for development and career options. Through a planned and systematic introduction process, all new employees are given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the organization and start working. The need for training or other activities to enhance skills is identified during employee performance appraisals. There are a number of examples of employees who have switched between different tasks or undergone further training during their employment, thus taking on new tasks and greater responsibility.

Working conditions

Arla Plast aims to ensure that its employees are healthy, committed and motivated. We believe health and safety provides the basis for this. So health and safety measures at Arla Plast are an integral part of everyday work and are conducted on a long-term basis. This means we work systematically with health and safety, conduct regular risk assessments and monitoring, set clear goals and develop action plans based on these. The work includes both physical and psychosocial health and safety, including issues related to ergonomics, protection and safety, sick leave, the promotion of fitness, and alcohol and drugs. We regularly conduct employee surveys to find out how the organization and the working environment are perceived by employees. The results are published and followed up by both company management and union representatives.

Business ethics

Arla Plast's ambition is to develop in a sustainable and responsible way. One way to ensure good business ethics and corporate responsibility is to create awareness and understanding in employees and other stakeholders. This is supported by a Code of Conduct, policies and training programmes.

Arla Plast has a guide for all its employees called The Arla Plast Way.
The Arla Plast Way describes and guides employees regarding how to act in different situations and is based on the Sustainability Policy and Code of Conduct. The guide contains
• Arla Plast: a good place to work
• Honesty and integrity
• Respect for customers
• Respect for each other
• Respect for company property
• We care about the world around us
• Inside information issues

Human rights and corruption

Guidelines on human rights and corruption can be found in The Arla Plast Way. All employees and company representatives have been trained on The Arla Plast Way and the appropriate laws in the countries in which we operate. A whistleblowing function is in place to detect if someone violates these. No incidents were reported in 2023.

Suppliers

All plastic granule purchases are made from approved suppliers that have passed our supplier selection process. We work upstream, which means that we only accept suppliers that have committed to complying with international human rights, labour law and anti-corruption rules. In addition to our own personnell, we work with carefully selected subcontractors at our production facilities in areas such as construction, safety, cleaning, IT, maintenance and logistics. All subcontractors are informed of our Health and Safety Policy, our procedures and, of course, our Code of Conduct. Our supplier monitoring includes checking suppliers' compliance with our Code of Conduct. No cases of suppliers breaching our Code of Conduct were
noted during the year.